


In the Snow

by TheWhiteShellMermaid



Series: What Witches Do For Christmas [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), The Worst Witch - All Media Types
Genre: Cora's at it again, Curses and reversals, Discoveries in the snow, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:26:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28305267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWhiteShellMermaid/pseuds/TheWhiteShellMermaid
Summary: Eva and Leah venture out into the snowy forest and make a startling discovery.
Series: What Witches Do For Christmas [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567606





	In the Snow

  
Leah squeals as a snowball hits her square in the back and she spins around, picking up more snow and chasing after her sister.

It is winter break for the witching schools of England and Eva and Leah have ventured out into the snowy forest. They have wandered far from the castle, leaving a trail in the snow to follow home. 

Leah throws her snowball, catching Eva's shoulder. She yelps and keeps running, aiming to duck behind a tree. However, before she can get there, her foot catches on something buried in the snow and she falls. 

Leah gasps and rushes over to check on her. “Eva! Are you alright?”

Eva nods as Leah helps her up. “What did you trip on?” 

She shrugs, unconcerned. “Probably just a tree root or something.”

They look over to where Eva had tripped and Leah brushes away the snow with her boot, revealing metal. 

“What on earth?” 

They kneel down and brush away more snow, curious now. 

“It looks like a train track!” Eva exclaims. 

Leah frowns. “But there aren't any railway lines up here.” She reminds her sister. 

Eva straightens up and brushes herself off. “Not any operational ones. This one must be abandoned.” 

Eva is right. The line is completely covered in snow, hidden from view. They would never have known it was there if Eva had not tripped over it.

“Let's follow it and see where it goes!” Eva suggests. She is in an adventurous mood today. 

Leah shrugs and agrees. “Okay.”

They set out along the line, brushing snow away every few steps so they can see where the track is. They walk for a good while before they catch sight of something dark on the line ahead. 

“What is that?” Says Leah.

Eva looks intrigued. “Maybe some old rolling stock. Or an abandoned engine!” 

As they draw closer, they realize there are two things, side by side, meaning the line must have split. 

“Steam engines!” Leah exclaims. “Oh wow!” 

“Who's there?” An unfamiliar voice suddenly calls.

Both girls jump and look around, but find no one. They walk around the engines, still scanning the woods. 

“Hello?” Eva calls. “Is someone else here?” 

They are now standing in front of the engines, with their backs to them. 

“Behind ye!” The voice comes again, a distinct Scottish burr. 

The girls spin around, and promptly scream. Both engines have round, grey, human-like faces on the front of their smoke boxes. Both are laughing hysterically at the sisters’ reaction. 

“Bein’ witches, ye’d think ye’d be a wee bit less surprised by seeing ‘hings alive that shuid nae be.” The one on the right says.

The girls stare, wide eyed. 

“They're alive?! They have _faces_?! They're _Scottish_?!” Eva exclaims. “Leah, are you seeing this?!” 

Leah doesn't quite know what to say. She looks closer at the engines. Both have tenders and both are painted black, a stark contrast to the pure white snow, which they are quite covered in. “Why are you alive?” She demands, almost accusatory. “Locos aren't meant to be alive.” 

“How do you know we're witches?” Eva demands suddenly. 

The one on the left replies. “Ye’r dressed like it!” 

The girls look down at their black cloaks and dresses. “Oh. Right.” 

“Do you have names, then?” Leah questions. 

“O’ course we dae. “A’m Donald and this here is mah brother, Douglas.” The one on the left explains. “What aboot ye?” 

The sisters look at each other and shrug. “My name is Eva.” She takes Leah's hand. “And this is my twin sister, Leah.” 

Leah looks up at them curiously. “You haven't told us what you're doing up on this old line, or how you're alive.”

“Did someone cast a spell on you, to bring you to life?” Eva chimes in. 

The twin engines look at each other. “Nae exactly.” Says Douglas. He looks to Donald then. “We shuid tell them, Donnie, they're witches, they might be able tae help us.” 

“Aye, Dougie!” Donald agrees. He turns back to the girls. “We were cursed.” He starts.

Douglas joins in. “We were human wance. Efter we bolted fae the orphanage, we left Scootlund n’ came doon ‘ere. We worked on a heritage railway.” 

“That's where we met the witch.” Says Donald. “Dinnae know what she wis on aboot. 

“She thought we were someone else, Ah think. Blithered aboot glamours and how we coudnae hide from her.” Douglas finishes. “Then she cursed us into steam engines.” 

“Aye.” Donald adds. “We came up ‘ere tae hide. We didnae know what folks would dae if they saw us. But then winter came and we git stuck in the snow.” 

Eva and Leah look at each other before Eva speaks. “We can help you.” She says confidently. 

“Yes.” Leah agreed. “It shouldn't be a problem, but I think it'll take a bit more than a basic reversal spell.” 

Eva grins. She loves showing off her magical expertise. “It's worth a try though.” She says, and holds up her spell casting fingers. She chants a spell in Latin under her breath. Her hands and the engines glow purple, but nothing more happens. 

“Nope.” She concludes. “We shall have to try something a bit more advanced.”

They try a few more spells, with little success. One makes their forms waver, but it's not enough to fully change them back. 

Leah frowns thoughtfully. “This is a tough one.” She admits. “Do you have any ideas, Eva?” 

Meanwhile, the twin engines are looking discouraged. “Maybe ye cannae help us.” Says Douglas disappointedly. “Ye are only wee witches after all.” 

Eva plants her hands on her hips, looking offended. “Nonsense. Just because we are small does not mean we are weak.” She sneers the last word. “Besides, I've an idea.” 

Leah, apparently thinking the same thing, conjures a glass bottle. Eva takes it from her, plucks a strand of her own hair, and drops it inside. Leah does the same and they seal it. 

“Ready?” Eva asks. Leah nods. 

Each with a hand on the bottle, they shake it. It glows a reddish pink color and the hairs inside seem to dissolve. 

Donald and Douglas watch, intrigued. “What is that?” Donald asks curiously. 

The girls seem quite proud of themselves, sure their plan will work. “This.” Says Eva. “Is bottled true love.”

The engines raise their eyebrows. 

Leah elaborates. “Where we come from, they say an act of true love can break any curse. This is the equivalent to that.”

Eva smirks when she sees their expressions. “True love can come in many forms, Donald and Douglas. Not just through romance.”

Leah nods. “It can exist between a romantic couple, yes, but also a parent and child, close friends.” She smiles at Eva then. “Siblings. Any two people who care for each other really.”

“Leah's right.” Eva agrees. “Shall we give this a go?” 

They all agree. Eva holds out the bottle and vanishes the stopper, before waving her hand over it, as if to draw out the contents. Reddish pink smoke curls into the air and around the engines. Their forms start to waver, shrinking and changing shape. When it clears, the steam engines are gone, and in their places stand two identical teenage boys. They are dressed in matching railway uniforms, with messy black hair and brown eyes. All in all, their features, though more masculine, resemble those of Eva and Leah. Oddly. 

The boys stare at each other in amazement. “It worked! Ye did it!” 

The girls grin. “Of course we did.” Eva states.

“Those who know us, know not to doubt us.” Leah adds. 

They set off back towards home with Donald and Douglas in tow as the sun begins to set. The boys chatter excitedly, overjoyed to be back in their human forms. Eva and Leah listen quietly, but find themselves falling into their thoughts. 

“Ye wandered a bit far, didnae ye?” Donald says after a few minutes of silence. “Wilnae yer parents be worried?” 

Eva draws out of her head at the sound of his voice. “A bit.” She replies distantly. 

Donald and Douglas look at her concernedly. “Are ye a’richt?” Asks Douglas. “Ye dinnae ha’ tae take us home wi’ ye if ye dinnae want tae.” 

Leah shakes her head. “It's not that.” She assures. “We were just. . .well.” She pauses, and Eva takes over. 

“You said you came from an orphanage right?” 

The boys nod. “Aye. What of it? Dinnae think yer parents will approve?”

Leah laughs softly. “Considering we ourselves are adopted, Mama will understand. She mayn’t be happy with us for bringing in strays though.” She says, and smiles to let them know she's joking about the last bit. 

Eva chimes in again then. “No, but we were wondering. . .what happened to your parents?” 

Douglas shrugs. “Ah suppose they juist. . .didnae want us.”

Donald sighs heavily. “Na one did. That's why we ran away from the orphanage. It was juist a waste o’ time.” 

Leah looks thoughtful. “So you don't know where you really came from?”

“Na, why?” The boys seem a bit confused, as if it didn't really matter. Which, to them, it probably doesn't. If they were anything like Eva and Leah, they had no time for the people who failed them.

Eva chews her bottom lip anxiously. “The witch.” She says at last. “The one who cursed you. She thought you were someone else, someone disguised by a glamour spell.”

Leah broke in, equally bothered. “Do you remember what she looked like?” 

The boys look at each other before Douglas speaks. “Aye. She wis auld. Nae really auld, but auld enough tae be a grandmother. And her hair wis a sort o’ reddish brown color.”

“Brown eyes.” Donald adds. “Dressed like she had money.”

The girls grow silent and pale. Eva swallows hard Leah grabs her sister’s arm, holds it tight. “No.”

“What?” Douglas frowns. 

“That sounds like. . .like our g-grandmother.” Eva whispers. 

And now the girls have no choice but to explain why, in fact, this is a bad thing. The boys listen avidly. They question their past, their present and who, in fact, they might be related to. 

Perhaps there was more to why that witch had thought they were someone else in disguise than they had previously thought. 


End file.
